A new journey…

August 30, 2013 / edebock / 68 Comments

It looks like Richard and I are embarking on a new journey… not one that we would have chosen. It started with a phone call from my doctor on Tuesday morning.

If you’ve been reading my blog since we left for China at the end of February, you may recall that when we arrived we had to have complete medical check-ups including abdominal ultrasounds before our resident’s permits could be issued. That’s when we first learned that there was something on my liver but after having a CT scan, I was told that it was nothing to worry about. It was suggested that I follow up with my own doctor after returning to Canada.

Early in August, I went for my annual medical and took the ultrasound photos from China with me. Dr. H wisely ordered another ultrasound which I had early Monday morning. Immediately afterward, I was told that I should also have a CT scan and that was done before I left the hospital. I expected similar results to those I’d received in China but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I was walking a nature trail in a provincial park several hours from home the next morning when my doctor called. He didn’t want to tell me the test results over the phone but since he was asking me to abort our planned trip to Vancouver and come home to meet with him, it was obvious that the news wasn’t good. I sat on the grass overlooking a beautiful lake while he told me that I have colon cancer which has already spread to my liver!

Cancer… that dreaded C word! Wow! How do you respond to that?

With prayer!

I am a list maker so as soon as we got back to our campsite, I started writing a list of people I needed to call, not just to share our devastating news but also to ask for prayer. Prayer for healing, prayer for peace and prayer for the strength to walk this pathway with grace.

After dropping our daughter and grandchildren in Calgary the following morning as planned, we turned toward home and started this new journey. It all seems a bit surreal at this point as I feel perfectly fine! I saw an internist yesterday and I’m booked for a colonoscopy and biopsy on Wednesday. As long as the growth in my bowel isn’t threatening to cause a blockage anytime soon, it will not be removed at this point and I will likely start chemotherapy soon.

We believe in a mighty God who responds to the prayers of his people and we are asking for a miracle! Whether he chooses to heal me with a touch of his hand or through the more usual medical means is immaterial to me but I am boldly asking for more time… there is much that I still want to accomplish in this life!

On the long drive home on Wednesday, as the doctor’s words rang in my head, I heard the still small voice of God’s Holy Spirit speak to my heart. I grabbed my notebook and wrote down his words so that I can recall them over and over again when things get rough and negative voices threaten to overcome me.

“I’ve got this in my hands. I know what’s going on. I’m going to take care of you.”

Where will this journey take us?

Kids helping kids

August 23, 2013 / edebock / 5 Comments

We went on our second Mission to MARS this week!

That’s right! Two years ago, on the island of Saipan, we directed a Vacation Bible School program with an outer space theme. This week, we brought the same program, Mission to MARS (Meet A Risen Savior), to our own local church. Every morning approximately 30 excited children between the ages of 5 and 12 gathered for games, crafts, songs and Bible stories.

One of the verses that they learned was 1 Chronicles 16:29 which speaks of bringing an offering. With this in mind, we wanted to incorporate a Missions project that the children could identify with and contribute to throughout the week.

The escalating civil war in Syria has left an increasing number of families in chaos. According to the United Nations, an estimated two million refugees have fled into Lebanon, Jordan, and surrounding countries while more than four million people have been displaced within the country itself. Schools across Syria are closing as children and families flee dangerous areas, and the public schools in Lebanon and Jordan are overcrowded. They simply can’t continue to absorb the number of refugee children who are flowing in. Many Syrian children have already lost a year of school due to violence and transition.

The Church of the Nazarene runs four schools in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. These schools are in neighborhoods where Syrian refugees and internally displaced people are struggling to survive but they can’t operate without funding. Many displaced, traumatized families have little or no income and are unable to pay school fees.

With the beginning of a new school year just around the corner, this was an issue that our VBS kids were easily able to identify with and they amazed us with their compassion and generosity.

$400 will enroll a Syrian child in a Nazarene school for an entire year
$100 will provide books and clothes for the school year
$45 will support a child’s school fees for one month

My faith was small. When I made up the poster shown below, I set $100 as our goal for the week but with the help of the church’s mission committee who agreed to match the children’s offerings dollar for dollar, we surpassed that amount on Wednesday! I was going to add another column to the poster that evening but one of our older girls suggested that I’d better make that two. Even that wasn’t enough! After taking this morning’s offering and adding in the matching amount from the missions account (shown in teal on the poster), we had raised $335.10!

In a country where we take so much for granted and where most children will soon go off to school wearing brand new clothes and carrying backpacks stuffed with shiny new supplies, it was gratifying to spend the week with kids whose hearts were touched by the plight of boys and girls in a faraway land whose lives have been uprooted by the tragedy of war.

Small talk

August 15, 2013 / edebock / 2 Comments

After a two week hiatus, I’m finally back in the blogosphere! We spent part of that time enjoying Family Camp at Camp Harmattan, the Church of the Nazarene campsite located between Olds and Sundre in southern Alberta. Down in the valley of the Little Red Deer River, we had no access to internet and I must admit that it was a nice break.

While telling his story, one of the speakers at camp made a statement that startled me. Dr. John Seaman and his wife, Linda, served on the mission field for 27 years. The last 17 of those years were spent in West Africa. John said that when he was elected to his present position of district superintendent of the Michigan District of the Church of the Nazarene, he felt completely overwhelmed. West Africa had become his comfort zone and Michigan was not!

That got me thinking. Over the past several years, we’ve stretched our comfort zones until, at times, it feels as if they have no boundaries. As I’ve thought about this over the past few days, however, I’ve come to the conclusion that my comfort zone has nothing to do with geography. I feel completely at home walking the streets of Asia but there are times right here at home when I struggle to step outside my comfort zone.

Little Street

That’s where the book that I’m currently reading comes into play. I can stand in front of a class of any age in any part of the world and feel at home. I have no problem with public speaking as long as I’ve had time to prepare and I can put on a costume, even a very skimpy one, and act on stage before a full house but I dread social events where I’m required to mix and mingle. I’ve worked hard to overcome my incredibly shy nature but I still feel tongue tied and wish that I could disappear into thin air when I’m in a situation that requires conversation with people I don’t know well. I’m sure I often come across as a total snob! That’s why I’m hoping that The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine will help me stretch my comfort zone in a new direction.

Fine begins her book with a “Winning at Small Talk” worksheet. If you find yourself responding no to more than a few of the questions, this book is for you, she says. I answered every question with a no!

“If you generally wait for someone else to take the initiative in a conversation, you have been self-centered,” she says in Chapter 2. Ouch! That would definitely be me.

The book is an easy read but putting it’s principles into practice will likely take a lot more effort. Fine suggests having a repertoire of icebreaking questions to use to engage someone else in conversation. I can’t actually see myself using many of the ones she suggests but maybe I should try “Have you ever read The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine?”

Do you have any favourite conversation starters?